Short Takes

Outside the Moriah Synagogue in the central Israeli city of Petach Tikvah, boys in ritual fringes and girls in long skirts handed out fliers for the dozens of candidates running in the Jan. 14 primary for the Jewish Home party, a right-wing, Modern Orthodox faction. Religious voters trickled in and out of polls in the synagogue lobby.

This is a busman’s holiday for Ziggy Gruber. The round-faced restaurateur from Houston (Texas, not Street), is sitting in Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant, an enormous and bustling kosher deli near Times Square, talking Jewish food and chatting about his movie debut in the new documentary film “Deli Man.”

Turns out there is such a thing as being too thin. At least in Israel.

In a first, models in the Jewish state with a BMI (body mass index) of less than 18.5 are banned from the catwalk, photo shoots and ad campaigns. According to that standard, a female model who is 5-feet-8 can weigh no less than 119 pounds.